The Darkness Within
by Usami
Summary: The first time Bakura gets his Millennium Ring, and when he first moved to Domino City.


**The Darkness Within**  
  
Bakura looked around as he walked home from school that day. He was talking in as much of the England city as he could. He would miss London very much, but what could he do? He had no say in this decision, and it made his mom happy. Why that made her happy was beyond Bakura, because she had lived in London all her life, just like he had.  
  
Walking up the steps to the door, Bakura swung it open. He jumped out of the way to avoid being hit by the movers who were taking away a cabinet to have it shipped to their new place. After they were out, he walked inside, avoiding various movers here and there. He sat on the couch that hadn't been taken away yet as he watched his mother panicking and telling the movers what to do.  
  
"You two, take that over there," she commanded. "You, grab that table. Hey, you, be careful with that!"  
  
"Mom," Bakura said, "why don't you try calming down?"  
  
She looked at her son, just realizing he had gotten home. "I should, I know, but we'll be moving soon, and if everything isn't ready, I tend to panic."  
  
"I know, because you need to have everything just right." He sighed loudly.  
  
"Look, I know you're not too happy with this decision, Ryou," she said gently, "and even I had doubts about this, because this is a big change for me, too."  
  
"So then why do we have to move?" he asked.  
  
"This was the only job offer available, and I had to take it. Japan isn't that bad, and I thought it would make your father happy to go back and live in the place he was born and grew up in."  
  
"What's the point?" Bakura questioned. "Dad will be out most of the time, anyway, and he won't be able to enjoy being 'home.'"  
  
His mother gave him a warning look. "You stop that. Just give it a chance, Ryou. Who knows?" she added with a sly smile. "Maybe you'll actually be able to make friends there."  
  
Bakura looked at her, then shrugged. He didn't have many friends at his school. Sometimes he did enjoy the privacy, but every once in a while he did long for some company.  
  
Movers came in, and, ignoring Bakura who was sitting on the couch, proceeded to lift it and began to take it away. Bakura simply hopped off and began to go up stairs, when his mother called to him, "Ryou?"  
  
"Yes?" he answered.  
  
"You know your father is coming back tonight, right?"  
  
"I know, Mom."  
  
"He said he had something for you when he gets back."  
  
Bakura wondered what kind of a present an archeologist like his father could get him, and he decided he'll find out what that would be later anyway, and continued up to his room.  
  
Opening the door, he stared at the empty room, the only thing left was the bed. He threw his backpack across the room, wondering what the point was of doing his homework when he was moving anyway. It was a bad time to move, in the middle of a school year, but his mother had to be in Japan as soon as possible to get the job. There was just no way out of it.  
  
Lying on the bed, he thought about what it would be like in Japan. 'What's the place we're going to again?' he wondered. 'Domino City? I think that's it. Will the house there be as big as the one here? I hope not. It's kind of embarrassing.' He sighed sadly. He didn't want to move, but he didn't have a choice. He was just going to have to hope for the best.  
  
He closed his eyes, trying to imagine what it would be like living there. Since he was half Japanese, his father had taught him how to speak it, whenever he was home, which wasn't very often. But Bakura had a tutor for the language whenever his father wasn't around. His mother could speak it too, even if she was English. Bakura guessed that he would be enrolled in a local school in Domino City, since he could speak Japanese.  
  
He didn't know very much about Japan, other than what he had learned about it in school. His father didn't tell him much about it, because he was hardly around. But Bakura wasn't sure if he wanted to know about it. He kind of wanted to discover what it was like for himself.  
  
He fell asleep, dreaming of different possibilities of what it would be like to move to Domino City.

* * *

Bakura watched as his mother and father embraced, sharing a quick kiss. Then his father walked over to him and embraced him tightly. Bakura returned the action gladly. He did love his father, even if he wasn't around very much.  
  
His father pulled away, looking at his son in the eyes, then ruffled the boy's snow-white hair. "How are you, son?" he asked.  
  
"Okay, I guess," Bakura said, even if it was a lie.  
  
"I know you're not thrilled with moving, but it'll be okay, you'll see. Japan is a nice place to live in. I know you'll like it."  
  
"Sure, dad," he replied, nodding slightly. 'Yeah, right,' he thought.  
  
"Hey," his dad said, "I got something for you." He opened his bag and began to look through it, muttering to himself as he combed the entire contents of what was inside. He finally pulled out something wrapped in a cloth, handing it to Bakura.  
  
Bakura uncovered the cloth and discovered a strange artifact. A golden ring lay in the inside, with an Egyptian-style pyramid in the center. There was an eye on the golden pyramid, and five thorn-shaped objects dangled at the bottom.  
  
Bakura lifted the artifact by the strap it was attached to and examined it. The entire thing was constructed of solid gold, and it was clearly very ancient.  
  
"I got it in Egypt," his father said. "The merchant who was selling it said it had a lot to do with Duel Monsters."  
  
Bakura looked at his father. "Duel Monsters?" he echoed. Duel Monsters was a new, and yet very popular, game that was invented by an American multimillionaire named Pegasus J. Crawford. 'How could something that looks like it came from Ancient Egypt have to do with a game as new as Duel Monsters?' he wondered.  
  
"So, what do you think?" his father asked him.  
  
"It's interesting," Bakura answered, for a lack of a better word for it, "but why are you giving it to me? Shouldn't something like this be in a museum?"  
  
"I thought about that," his father replied, "and even I don't understand why, but something told me that you should have it. I guess I feel that maybe it was made for you."  
  
Bakura looked at his father with a confused look, not sure what he was talking about. 'Made for me?' he thought. 'This thing? Why?'  
  
"Thanks, Dad," Bakura said politely. He wasn't sure what to do with it, but he decided to humor his father, and wore the strap around his neck. The ring hung down, resting against his chest. He fingered the eye, wondering how old the ancient relic was. His mother and father began to talk about something, and Bakura decided to go upstairs and examine the object some more.  
  
Sitting on his bed, Bakura took off the ring and looked at it the ring closely. He yawned, and rubbed his eyes as he set down the ring. 'I don't understand why if I'm bothering to do this,' he thought.' It's strange though. There's just something about it that seems strangely familiar.'  
  
The ring began to shine. Bakura gasped as he tried to shield his eyes. The room was filled with a blinding light. As the glow subsided, Bakura fell back on the bed, unconscious.

* * *

Bakura blinked as his eyes grew accustomed to the dark surroundings. 'Where am I?' he wondered. 'What am I doing here?'  
  
A chilling wind blew passed him, causing him to shiver. He looked around the darkness, trying to remember what happened. He felt something hanging from his neck, and looked down to see the golden ring.  
  
"What's going on?" he asked himself, his voice echoing throughout the emptiness.  
  
"Greetings, Bakura," a strange, yet familiar voice, shot out. "Welcome to the Shadow Realm." Bakura watched as a figure emerged from the shadows. Bakura gasped as he saw the figure looked like him. But the stranger's hair was messier than his was, and his eyes gleamed with malevolence.  
  
"Who are you?" Bakura asked. The figure chuckled spitefully.  
  
"In a sense," the figure said in a cruel tone, "I am you."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You and I are one, connected by the Millennium Ring."  
  
"Millennium…Ring?" Bakura looked at the ring dangling from around his neck, and discovered that the stranger had one exactly like it around his own neck.  
  
"I am the spirit that was trapped in the Millennium Ring," the stranger continued, "longing for the day that I would be awakened by the one who was destined to own it."  
  
"Me?" Bakura asked. "I'm the one who freed you?"  
  
"You are the destined owner of the Millennium Ring," the spirit said, "and you were the only one who could ever awaken me." He chuckled again. "And now that I am free, I can search for the other six Millennium Items."  
  
"There are more of these?" Bakura questioned.  
  
"Not exactly like the Millennium Ring, but the powers are similar."  
  
"Powers?"  
  
"Each Millennium Item contains dark magic and power. And whoever so wields all seven items will receive ultimate control. And you," he said, pointing to Bakura, "will help me find the other six."  
  
"But I don't want to," Bakura argued.  
  
The figure walked up to Bakura, staring at him fiercely. "I didn't say I was giving you a choice in the matter." He shoved Bakura, who fell, as the darkness began to cover him completely.

* * *

Bakura sat up in his bed, breathing heavily. His heart was pounding hard, but as he looked around, he discovered that he was still in his room. He wiped the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve, trying to calm his breathing. It was dark outside, with the only light that he could see was the moon, hanging over in the sky.  
  
Scratching his head, Bakura got out of bed and turned on the lights. He squinted as the room light up, and his eyes adjusted to the brightness. He yawned as he checked his wrist watch to see what time it was. He was surprised to see that the time was 2:30 in the morning.  
  
Swallowing, he decided to get something to drink in the kitchen. Opening the door quietly, he walked passed his parents room and downstairs into the kitchen. He switched on the lights and grabbed one of the few glasses that were still left in the cupboard. He opened the refrigerator, and, pulling out a pitcher of water, poured the clear liquid into his glass. After spilling some on the counter, he discovered his hands were shaking slightly.

'It must have been that dream I had,' he thought as he gulped down the water. He poured himself more and drank again before returning the pitcher into the fridge and placing his glass in the sink. 'It seemed so real. And that person who looked like me…he seemed so…evil…' Bakura felt something in his head, something searching for a name for the figure in his dreams. But the best he could come up with was 'Yami Bakura.'  
  
But it was just a dream, he told himself as he headed upstairs, back to his room. 'Still…it just seemed…too real…'  
  
He entered his room and was greeted by a flashing light, coming from the gold ring that he had left on his bed. In his mind, the words 'Millennium Ring' repeated over and over. The Millennium Ring kept flashing until he walked over to it and placed it around his neck. It stopped immediately, and he felt something stir inside him. And he knew, that the 'dream' that he had had wasn't just a dream anymore.

* * *

Jounouchi yawned and rubbed his eyes as he walked. "Why does school have to be so early?" he muttered to himself, yawning again. "Would it kill them to have it start just a little later in the day? The teachers wonder why we don't learn much in the morning. Maybe if they start at a later hour, we would actually be awake and learn more then we do now."  
  
Dragging his feet, he slowly crossed the street. There was a honk sound, and Jounouchi looked to see a truck coming towards him.  
  
"Ahh!" he yelled, and ran across to the other side, just as the truck reached where he was standing.  
  
"Why don't ya watch where you're going, ya insensitive jerk!" Jounouchi yelled after the truck as it drove by. "I'm walking here!" He stopped as he noticed that it was a moving van, followed by three or four others. He watched all of them go by, and he realized they were heading for a small mansion close to the school.  
  
He whistled, impressed. "Man," he said, "whoever they are, they must be rich. Maybe not as rich as that Kaiba guy, but they're still moving in a mansion, no matter how small it is." He rubbed his head, then ran the rest of the way to his school. He wanted to tell the others about it.

* * *

"Are you sure, Jounouchi?" Yugi asked after his friend had told his story. "There are people moving here?"  
  
"Of course I'm sure Yugi," Jounouchi answered. "I almost got hit by one of the moving trucks."  
  
"If the driver kept going, even if he saw you," Honda said, "don't you think that maybe you shouldn't have been crossing the street yet?" A thin red line appeared across Jounouchi's nose.  
  
"Apparently not," Anzu speculated. All three laughed as Jounouchi slapped his head with the palm of his head.  
  
"But what makes you think they're moving in that small mansion?" Yugi asked.  
  
"There were like four or five trucks that I saw," Jounouchi replied. "And before I left, I swear that I saw at least six more coming." There was a loud ringing sound as the teacher walked in. Walking behind him was a young teenager. His snow-white, shoulder-length hair swayed softly as he walked in. He stopped, focusing his brown eyes to the class.  
  
All the girls in the classroom began to whisper to each other about this new boy, and even Anzu commented something about him to her friends.  
  
"He looks kind of cute," she whispered to Yugi, who was sitting next to her.  
  
Yugi blinked, then looked at the transfer student. He felt something at the back of his mind, but he wasn't sure what it was.  
  
_**Jealous?**_ Yami asked in the boy's head.

'NO!' Yugi argued back.  
  
**_I'm in your head, Hikari. It's hard to hide things from me. You're jealous._**

'Maybe just a little…'  
  
Yami scoffed. **_If your jealousy was an actual monster, it would be bigger than an actual Blue Eyes White Dragon._**  
  
Yugi growled softly, but said nothing more to his counterpart.  
  
Some girls began to giggle softly, and the new student looked down, a red streak appeared across his nose and cheeks, causing the girls to giggle more.  
  
"All right," the teacher said, quieting the female students, "settle down everyone. We have a new student joining us today. He comes to us all the way from London, England." The girls began talking and giggling again, until the teacher held up a hand to quiet them down. All the guys simply rolled their eyes.  
  
"Why don't you tell us all something about yourself?" the teacher asked the shy, new boy. He looked at him, then back at the class.  
  
"My name is Bakura Ryou," he said quietly. "I was born in England, like my mother. But my father is Japanese."  
  
"What do your parents do for a living, Bakura?" the teacher asked.  
  
"Well, my father's an archeologist, and my mother is an engineer."  
  
"That's good," the teacher said, nodding. "Now, who would be kind enough to show Bakura around school today?" All the girls' hands shot up, including Anzu. Yugi looked at her, and sighed quietly.  
  
The teacher looked around the room. "How about…Mutou?" The girls all groaned as Yugi blinked in surprise.  
  
"Me?" Yugi asked, pointing to himself.  
  
"That's not a problem for you, is it?"  
  
"Um…no…sir," Yugi said, unsure if he felt relief because Anzu wasn't showing him around, or not.  
  
"All right, then," the teacher said. "Bakura, why don't you sit down there?" He pointed to an empty desk in front of Anzu. Bakura sat down, opening his bag and pulling out some books. Yugi glanced at Anzu and saw her staring at Bakura, even if it was just the back of his head.  
  
**_Jealous_**, Yami's voice interrupted his thoughts.

'Could you just shut up for one day?'  
  
Yami was quiet for a moment, as if he was thinking. _**Nope.**  
  
_

'You love torturing me, don't you?'  
  
**_It's one of the perks I have of being in your head._**  
  
Yugi glanced at Anzu again, then out the window. He wasn't sure if he wanted to watch her staring at some guy the way she was. It was kind of weird, especially for someone like her.

* * *

Bakura sat down and opened his bag to pull out his lunch. 'Well,' he thought, 'so far so good. I suppose this place isn't so bad. Just a few more hours until school's out. Its okay here, I guess.'  
  
He listened as Yugi's friend, Jounouchi, was complaining to his shorter companion about beating him in Duel Monsters…again… Bakura had discovered that Yugi was just as into Duel Monsters as he was, and so were his other friends, Jounouchi, Anzu, and Honda.  
  
As he was beginning to pull out his lunch, he caught sight of his Millennium Ring. There was a slight light coming from it. As he pulled it out, he noticed one of the thorn-like objects was glowing and pointing behind him. Turning his head, Bakura saw it was pointing at Yugi.

'What is it doing?' Bakura wondered. 'Why is it pointing to Yugi?'  
  
The pyramid around his neck, with the eye symbol. Yami Bakura explained. **_It is one of the seven Millennium Items, the Millennium Puzzle. We must try to get it from him somehow._**

'But why?' Bakura asked.  
  
**_I've explained it to you before, brat. I need it to obtain ultimate power._**  
  
Bakura placed the ring back inside his backpack as Yugi walked up from behind him. "Hey Bakura," Yugi said.  
  
"Hi," he replied.  
  
"Why don't you come sit and eat lunch with us?" the young boy asked. Bakura looked at him and nodded. He got up and followed Yugi to the table behind him, seating himself next to Yugi and Anzu. Honda was making fun of Jounouchi across from him, who had his head down on the desk.  
  
"Are you okay?" Bakura asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," Jounouchi said sadly. "Just because Yugi beat me…again…ten times in a row."  
  
"Eleven," Honda corrected.  
  
"…eleven times in a row…doesn't mean anything." But suddenly, he sat up straight with a grin on his face. "But that's okay, because Yugi's taking us to his grandpa's game shop today."  
  
"Your grandfather owns a game shop?" Bakura asked as Yugi took a mouthful of food.  
  
The young boy nodded as he chewed and swallowed. "Yeah. I'm going to try and get him to show us his special card. You want to come with us?"  
  
Bakura shook his head. "I still have a lot of things to do at home. Our stuff just came in today."  
  
"Yeah, I know," Jounouchi muttered under his breath.  
  
"My parents want to get everything organized by the end of the week. I'm sure they already started, but they might need some help."  
  
Yugi nodded understandingly. "All right," he said.  
  
"That's too bad," Jounouchi said. "But that's your loss I guess, 'cause we get to see a real rare card!"  
  
Bakura nodded. Turning to Yugi, he said, "You know, maybe sometime, you can come over to my house."  
  
The small boy looked at him. "Really?" he asked. "Would it be okay with your parents? They wouldn't mind?"  
  
"I don't think so. In fact, they might encourage it."  
  
"I guess," Yugi said. "It might be fun."  
  
**_Excellent idea._** Yami Bakura said inside him. **_While he's over, you can try to take his Millennium Puzzle._**

'That wasn't what I was trying to do,' Bakura thought.  
  
**_I know that!_** Yami Bakura snapped. **_But as long as he's over there, you might as well try. It's convenient that he'll be over at your house, with your parents out all the time, that you can try taking it from him._**  
  
Bakura could feel the ancient spirit's dominance inside his mind, and he was becoming afraid of what would happen if Yugi did decide to go over to his house. Could he keep his evil presence from arising and taking control? If he couldn't, with no one else around the house, what would Yugi do?

* * *

Yugi looked at the piece of paper in his hand, checking the name of certain streets. The day beforehand, he had agreed to go to Bakura's house while his grandfather was training Jounouchi in Duel Monsters. A few days after he defeated Seto Kaiba, using the powerful Exodia, Jounouchi had lost a friendly match to Anzu, and had asked Yugi for help, who then asked Sugoroku if he would help his friend, and Jounouchi has been training with his grandfather since then. After a few days, Yugi began to get bored just watching the two of them go at it, so he decided to see Bakura.  
  
Waiting patiently at the crosswalk to allow him to go, Yugi began to wonder what it would be like at Bakura's. Jounouchi had said that Bakura was living in the small mansion near the school, but Yugi had never seen it that well before. He had only taken a few glances when he was passing by. It's been a while since he had seen it.  
  
Yugi looked at the paper again, checking the directions, and stopped as he realized he was at the right place. He gasped as he looked at the small, white mansion, safe behind the iron gate that stood between him and Bakura's home.  
  
The young boy pressed the intercom he found on the wall. "Hello?" he said timidly.  
  
"Who's that?" a deep voice boomed.  
  
"My name is Mutou Yugi," he spoke again. "I'm a friend of Bakura's."  
  
"Listen kid…" the man began, but there was another voice, seeming to argue with the other person. Then, Bakura's voice replaced the other's. "Come on in, Yugi," he said. Then the iron gate swung open automatically.  
  
Yugi watched as the gate opened fully, allowing him to enter. As he walked up to what seemed like the front door, he couldn't help but notice the rose bushes on the side of the path. He blinked rapidly, hardly containing his astonishment.  
  
Looking up, he saw Bakura waiting for him at the door. "Hi Yugi," Bakura greeted as the small boy walked up the steps.  
  
"Hey Bakura," he answered.  
  
"Sorry about the security," the snow-headed teenager said. "They're only doing their jobs, but that requires them to doubt what some people say. They don't really trust anyone."  
  
"It's no problem."  
  
"Come on, I'll show you around." Before he could react, Bakura grabbed his hand and literally dragged the younger boy inside. As the little tour proceeded, Yugi couldn't help but be impressed. This place was, of course, totally bigger than his and his grandfather's game shop home.  
  
Bakura finally took Yugi up to his room. "Make yourself comfortable," Bakura said as he walked over to his desk and looked for something. The small boy looked around the room. Bakura's room is as big as the den in the game shop, Yugi thought.  
  
**_Maybe even bigger than that._** Yami replied.  
  
Yugi looked at the bed, when he heard Bakura's voice ring out, "You can sit down if you want." The young boy sat down, but was surprised when the bed rippled underneath his weight. It took him a few seconds to realize that it was a waterbed.  
  
Bakura pulled out a remote control and pressed a button. His younger companion was startled when music coming from the ceiling. Looking up, Yugi first noticed the speakers hanging from there. The snow-headed boy sat down next to him.  
  
"Your house is so big," Yugi commented.  
  
Bakura shrugged. "My father gets a lot of money from artifacts he finds on his digging trips."  
  
Looking at the nightstand next to the bed, the small boy picked up a small picture frame. A young man and woman stood behind a small child with snow-white hair. All three looked really happy in the picture, the young boy especially.  
  
"Are these your parents?" Yugi asked.  
  
"Yeah," Bakura said. "That picture was taken when I was a lot younger."  
  
The smaller boy continued to observe the picture, looking at the man with midnight hair, the woman with silvery hair, and the happy child. "No offense," he said, trying to search for the right words without offending his host, "but you look a lot…happier…in the picture."  
  
Bakura nodded sadly. "My dad didn't travel that much, then, and my mom wasn't working, either. But soon afterwards, my father began to travel a lot, and my mother got a job, and she works from early in the morning to late in the evening. I hardly get to see either of them."  
  
Yugi looked at him sympathetically. "My parents did the same when I was little. They traveled a lot after Grandpa retired and opened the game shop. I lived with him because they were gone most of the time."  
  
"Do they still travel?"  
  
The small boy looked at the floor. "No, they can't. They passed away some time ago."  
  
"I'm sorry," Bakura said, unable to think of anything else to say. The younger boy nodded.  
  
"It's okay," he said, trying to push back the memory, "it happened a long time ago. It was an accident, I believe."  
  
"You don't know how they died?"  
  
He shook his head. "I never found out. Grandpa knew, but he never wanted to talk about it. So I eventually stopped asking."  
  
Yugi laid back on the bed, feeling the wave under him. "My grandpa used to travel a lot, too, but he retired and opened the game shop. I don't know if he ever made as much money as your dad, though."  
  
Bakura shrugged. He caught the shine from the Millennium Puzzle, and heard a voice from the Millennium Ring.  
  
**_This is the perfect opportunity._** Yami Bakura said. **_Take it now._**

'I can't,' Bakura argued. He tried to fight off Yami Bakura's control as he asked, "What is that you were around your neck, Yugi?"  
  
The young boy sat up, holding the golden pyramid. "This thing?" he said. "It's called the Millennium Puzzle. I found it in my grandfather's shop when I was little. It took me eight years to put together, but I was able to."  
  
_**Take it from him!**_ Yami Bakura ordered.

'NO!'  
  
Yugi looked at Bakura, a little concerned. "Are you okay?" he asked.  
  
Bakura looked at him. "What do you mean?"  
  
"You don't look very well. Are you feeling alright?"  
  
Bakura smiled. "Forgive me," he said, "but I'm just a little tired, that's all. It took us a while to get everything organized in this house, and we still have more to unpack."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes. My father likes taking home souvenirs from the places he's been to, so we have a lot of things."  
  
"Yeah, my grandfather has a lot of keepsakes, too. He's traveled all over the world."  
  
Bakura smiled, but he couldn't help but feel guilty from the lie. They had finished unpacking a few days ago. But trying to keep Yami Bakura at bay was consuming so much of his energy, he wasn't sure how much longer he could maintain control.

* * *

A few days later, Bakura was walking down the hall during the lunch period. He was pretty familiar with the school now, and could get around by himself. After he had finished eating, he was just walking around. He spotted an open classroom, however, and heard a familiar voice.  
  
"I have to go," he heard Yugi say. "It's the only way to save my grandfather."  
  
Bakura stood by the open door, listening to the conversation.  
  
"But you can't go alone," he heard Anzu say. "We'll come with you."  
  
"It's invitation only," Yugi explained. "The only way to get onto the boat for the Duelist Kingdom is if you have the star chips."

'Duelist Kingdom?' Bakura wondered. 'That's the big tournament that the creator, Pegasus, is having for any serious duelists.'  
  
_**If Yugi is going, then we might as well go along also.**_ Yami Bakura interrupted.

'But it's invitation only,' Bakura said.  
  
_**That doesn't matter.**_ Yami Bakura said. _**There are other ways to get on the boat for the Duelist Kingdom.  
**_

'You mean to sneak on?' Bakura thought in disgust.  
  
_How else?_

'But that's wrong.'  
  
_You won't have a choice in the matter._ Before he could protest, Bakura felt his evil spirit close to him, so he can't hear what Yami Bakura was thinking, and visa versa. 'What's going to happen now?' he wondered. 'What's Yami Bakura going to do to attain the Millennium Puzzle from Yugi? Will I be able to stop him?'

* * *

The darkness surrounded Bakura as he awakened. Sitting up, he held his pounding head. He blinked as he looked around his setting, trying to remember where he was. 'The last thing I remember was that I was home, in my room, he thought. Then, where am I now?'  
  
_**Do you really want to know?**_ Yami Bakura's voice rung through his mind.

'Yes.'  
  
**_Last you remember, you were in your room. Do you know what you were doing?_**

'Not really.'  
  
_**You were arguing…with me.**_

'Why?'  
  
_**Do you remember what tonight is?**_  
  
Bakura thought about it. His head was slightly fuzzy about what happened a few hours ago. But then he realized what Yami Bakura was talking about. 'Tonight is the night the boat going to the Duelist Kingdom sets sail.'  
  
_**Correct. We were arguing because you didn't want to sneak on the boat tonight. So I had to take control.**_

'What did you do?'  
  
_**I seized control of your body, and snuck on the boat. You were unconscious, so you don't remember how I snuck us on.**_

'So we're in the boat?'  
  
_**Of course we are! I told you, I will go to any means necessary to get all seven Millennium Items. Be happy you have control of your body…for the time being.**_

'But…'The link between them closed before Bakura could say anything more. ''For the time being'?' he wondered. 'What did he mean by that?'  
  
The snow-haired boy got up, and finding the door, went outside. He leaned on the rail of the boat, looking out into the dark water. Sighing loudly, he began to wonder how he was destined to own the Millennium Ring, when the spirit inside was totally opposite to him. He wasn't sure what Yami Bakura would do to get the Millennium Puzzle from Yugi, but he could only hope that Yugi would be able to protect himself from whatever his counterpart throws at his small friend.

* * *

Bakura examined the island as he wandered around. 'So this is the place Pegasus is having the tournament,' he thought. He placed his hand on the trunk of a tree. He wasn't sure what would happen now. He was afraid of what would happen from here on. Yami Bakura was stronger than he was, and he realized that he could have seized control from the start. Why he didn't, Bakura didn't know, but if he happened to run into Yugi in the Duelist Kingdom, Yami Bakura would have no hesitation in taking control again.  
  
He felt strange, as if he was being watched. Turning around, he saw a staircase leading up to Pegasus' castle. On the staircase, he saw Yugi's girlfriend, Anzu, and his other friends, Honda and Jounouchi. He caught a bit of Yugi's head, but since Yugi was so small, that was all he was able to see. "So the others snuck on, too," he said to himself.  
  
_**Idiot!**_ Yami Bakura rebuked. _**Don't let them see you!**_ Bakura slipped behind a tree, out of their view. He actually agreed with Yami Bakura that they shouldn't see him. If they did, they might think he was an actual duelist on the island. He wanted to avoid them as much as possible, so Yami Bakura couldn't take the Millennium Puzzle from Yugi.  
  
Bakura poked his head out from behind the tree and looked up to see the other four weren't there any longer. He wanted to stay there, but he could feel that Yami Bakura was trying to take control again, and the evil spirit wanted to follow the group. 'Be careful, Yugi,' Bakura thought, slowly slipping into darkness once again. 'I don't know what Yami Bakura is capable of…'

**The End**


End file.
